Display carton



Sept. 28, 1965 I A. KAMPS 3,208,533

DISPLAY CARTON Filed July 13, 1964 [12 V51: far A ou/ls ,4. Kamps lay 41mm, eMa,

United States Patent 3,208,583 DISPLAY CARTON Louis A. Kamps, Northbrook, IlL, assignor to National Dairy Products Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 13, 1964, Ser. No. 382,305 Claims. (Cl. 206-44) The present invention relates generally to apparatus for supporting and displaying merchandise, and, more particularly, to a display holder for supporting a number of generally flat containers or packages.

Many products are currently packaged in generally flat containers or envelopes which are quite convenient to produce, handle, ship and store. For example, such packaging is quite common in the food industry, particularly for granulated or powdered products, such as soup mixes, salad dressing mixes, grated cheeses, or like products. Such flattened containers usually have a label or directly printed advertising on one or both of the faces of the containers. While such flat containers may, as noted, be conveniently transported and stored in regular stacks or rows, it is desirable to present these containers to the consumer in a manner permitting him to see the printed material on the faces of the containers. This not only presents a more pleasant and attractive impression of the product, but inasmuch as a manufacturer will often package a line of diiferent products in the same size flat container, this enables the consumer to readily select the desired product. Further, direct stacking or aligning of the flat containers makes access to the individual containers more diflicult.

It is, therefore, desirable to present such flat product containers, either at the point of sale or at another point in the store, in a manner permitting ready surveillance and selection of a desired container. Various display and holder devices have been utilized in an attempt to achieve these objectives, however, they have for the most part been quite unsuccessful. Merely placing the containers in an open box and arranging them in the manner of file cards is unsatisfactory in that it is difficult to see the faces of the containers and, even if the front wall of the box is cut away, all but the face of the forwardmost container remain concealed. This creates problems not only for the consumer, but for the Storekeeper where several diiferent products are represented and he must maintain his supply of the various products. Further, containers so arranged tend to fall or tip forwardly or rearwardly, particularly when a substantial number have been removed from the box. The addition of an underlying sloped or graduated platform to elevate some of the containers tends to worsen the problem, causing the containers to either tilt forwardly or slide downwardly so that they rest on their rear faces. Also, the variation in height of the containers is necessarily gradual following the incline of the supporting platform, and no substantial differences in elevation between adjacent con-' tainers can be achieved to expose a substantial portion of the face of any one of the containers.

. Other display devices and holders which have attempted to meet these various problems have for the most part been excessively costly or not readily assembleable.

Thus, it is seen that the prior art display holders have not been entirely satisfactory for the support and display of products packaged in a flat or envelope-type container.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved display holder.

It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved display holder for supporting a plurality of generally flat containers in "ice vertically and transversely extending, parallel and selectively elevated positions.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved display holder operable to resiliently and releasably support a plurality of flat product containers.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved display holder which is formed from a unitary flat blank of semi-rigid foldable material.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel improved blank made from a sheet of semi-rigid, resilient, foldable material and capable of being formed into a display holder of the type described hereinafter.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved display holder which is simple and economical to produce and assemble, yet which is effective, durable and trouble-free in operation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following descriptions and the associated drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an assembled selfstanding display holder, which embodies various features of the present invention, and several flat product containers supported therein;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the display of FIGURE 1, with portions broken away to show details of construction, in a partially closed or collapsed condition;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view generally similar to FIGURE 2, showing the holder in fully closed or collapsed condition;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged elevational view of the display holder in assembled condition as shown in FIG- URE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is a reduced plan View of a flat blank foldable to form the illustrated display holder.

Very briefly, the illustrated display holder 10, shown best in FIGURES 1 and 4, is an open, generally rectangular box-structure formed from a blank 11 of a semirigid resilient material. The holder 10 includes a bottom Wall 12 and a pair of spaced side wall members 13 which each provide a vertical sidewall 14 and an inwardly diverted flange 16. Each of the side walls 14 has an upwardly, rearwardly sloping upper edge from which one of the flanges 16 extends. The inward edges of the flanges 16 are provided with notches 18 proportioned and arranged to removably support a number of generaly flat containers 20 between the opposed flanges. The respective heights of the containers 20 may be arranged as desired to expose diflerent container faces and the containers will remain in their supported vertical positions until the last one is removed from the holder.

Considered in further detail, the illustrated display holder 10, which is shown best in its assembled condition in FIGURES l and 4 is in the form of a generally rectangular box or box-construction which is open at the top to permit the insertion and removal of the flat containers 20. The illustrated box, which is constructed of a semirigid, resilient, foldable material such as cardboard, paperboard or the like, includes the flat rectangular bottom or lower wall 12. Extending upwardly from each side edge of the bottom wall 12 is the generally rectangular vertically extending side wall member 13 which provides one of the side walls 14, as well as the associated flange 16. The upper edge of each of the vertical side walls 14 is inclined or sloped upwardly to the rear. Extending upwardly from the front edge of the bottom wall 12 and secured between the vertical side walls 14 is a short generally rectangular vertical front wall 22. The front wall 22 is provided with a central recess or cutout 23 extending 3 into the wall 22 from its upper edge and providing a fuller view of the forwardmost container supported in the boxstructure. Extending upwardly from the rear edge of the bottom wall 12 and secured at their side edge to the vertical side walls 14 is a tall rectangular vertical rear Wall 24.

The inwardly etxending flange 16 at either side of the open box-structure of the illustrated display holder is an elongated narrow strip of material that is integrally connected along one longitudinal edge to the inclined upper edge of the associated side wall 14 and extends from there generally inwardly of the box-structure. The flange 16, which together with the associated side wall 14 comprises the side wall member 13, is formed by bending the side wall member along the line connecting the strip to the side wall. Thus, the flanges 16 are each unsupported at their inner edge.

Each of the flanges 16 is formed at its inwardly directed or free edge to provide a plurality or series of separated support Zones or inwardly opening support receptables in the form of V-shaped notches or indentations 18. The box-structure is generally symmetrical and, in general, each of the notches on one side of the box-structure is opposite or opposed from a notch on the other side of the box-structure. The spacing between opposite or opposed notches 18 should be no greater than the width of the containers 20. It is desired that the space between opposite notches, when the flanges 16 are fully extended inwardly, be somewhat less than the width of the containers.

While the illustrated V-shaped notches or indentations have proved to be particularly advantageous and effective in a display holder such as described, various other forms of individual or separated holding or supporting means or receptacles may be utilized, as for example curved or rounded recesses or slits.

FIGURES l and 4 illustrate several flat containers 20 in elevated supported position in the holder 10. Each of the containers 2% is supported between an opposite pair of notches 18 in transversely extending vertical position. Each of the containers is desirably supported at a point somewhere above its vertical center so that the container tends to maintain its own position and to be relatively stable in that position. The supported containers extend parallel to one another and they may be closely adjacent as shown in FIGURE 4, or may be spaced apart as illustrated in FIGURE 1.

Each container is supported from either side by resilient frictional contact and so may be readily removed from the holder or may be elevationally positioned in the holder as desired. It will be noted that this selective elevational positioning is accomplished without the need for any underlying support or platform below the containers with the added advantage that the height of the individual containers can be changed as desired.

In the illustrated display holder 10, two factors appear to combine to provide desired resilient frictional support for the containers. Initially, the resiliency of the walls, particularly the vertical walls, permits a certain amount of resilient deformation or expansion when the containers are inserted into the holder, and the tendency of the walls of the holder to return to their original positions provides inward forces at either side of the supported containers. Further, the flanges 16 of the illustrated holder 10 will normally be forced into a somewhat downwardly extending position such as shown in FIGURE 1 when the containers are inserted into the holder. The flanges 16 then tend to spring or pivot upwardly, causing their inner notched edges to move in an are which serves to narrow the spacing between the opposite notches supporting a container and tends to exert resilient pressure against the opposite sides of the container.

The recess 23 in the front Wall permits substantially full view of the front face of the forwardmost container supported in the holder. The remaining containers may be selectively elevated to show different products or merely 4 for aesthetic purposes to provide an attractive display where the illustrated or printed faces of selected containers are visible. The individual containers are readily accessible and removable from the holder and additional containers may readily replace them in the holder. In particular, it may be noted that the individual containers 20 will retain their respective positions regardless of the presence or absence of other containers, since they do not depend for support on the other containers, and therefore even the last container remaining in the holder will be supported in a vertically extending viewable position.

The flat blank 11, which is shown in FIGURE 5, may be produced from a sheet of semirigid, foldable, resilient material such as cardboard or paperboard. The blank 11 is divided into panels or walls by variously extending lines which are preferably lines of weakness or score lines, but which may merely be visual lines indicating where the blank is to be folded. The illustrated blank 11 includes four vertical Walls or panels arranged and connected in side-by-side relation, namely, the tall rear wall or panel 24, the right side wall or panel 14 (as viewed from the front of the holder), the short front wall or panel 22, and the left side wall or panel 14. The inclined upped edges of the side walls 14 each has connected thereto a flange or panel 16 in the form of an elongated strip or band. The rear wall 24 is provided with a connector tab 26 along its outer edge. The blank 11 is folded along the lines connecting the respective vertical walls or panels and formed into a loop or ring construction or unit with the connector tab 26 secured as by a suitable adhesive to a connector area 28 along the outer edge of the left side wall 14.

The blank 11 also includes four generally rectangular bottom wall-forming flaps or panels 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d connected to the respective lower edges of the vertical walls 24, 14 and 22. In general, the bottom wall panels 12a through 12d are so interengaged and interconnected in the looped construction or unit that they are self-repositioning from a folded condition (FIGURE 3) to a bottom wall forming condition (FIGURES 1 and 4).

More particularly, the panels 12a through 12d are interengaged, as best seen in FIGURE 4, when the looped construction formed by the blank 11 is in its open or assembled condition, to provide the bottom wall 12 of the box-structure of the holder. Each of the panels 12a and has a foldable part or corner 30 and 32, respectively. The corners 3t) and 32 are secured, respectively, to the underside areas designated 34 and 36 of the panels 12!) and 1201 (FIGURE 5). When the construction is folded, collapsed or closed from the assembled condition shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, by moving the vertical walls into a generally common plane, the panels 12a through 12d that form the bottom wall are caused to automatically pivot upwardly and disengage as shown in FIGURE 2. The corner 30 of panel 12a that is secured to panel 12b is bent over back against the remainder of the panel 12a incident to the collapsing as shown in FIGURE 2. Similarly, the corner 32 of panel 120 which is secured to panel 12d is bent over back against the remainder of panel 12c incident to the collapsing. FIGURE 3 illustrates the looped construction completely collapsed into a generally common plane, with the corners 3t) and 32 completely doubled back against the respective panels 12a and 120 and with the flanges 16 pivoted into the common plane.

To assemble or open the collapsed looped construction to provide the box-structure of the display holder 10, the vertical walls are moved to their spaced positions, causing the panels 12a through 12d of the bottom wall to automatically form into the bottom wall 12 in a general reverse of the foregoing operation. In particular, the folded corners 30 and 32 are rotated back into the plane of their respective bottom wall panels 12a and 12c, and thus into the common plane of the bottom wall 12 in the assembled display holder. The flanges 16 are bent or pivoted inwardly toward one another to the operational inwardly extending positions shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, and the display holder is ready for use.

The illustrated display holder 16) removably supports a plurality of product containers of the flat or envelope type. The containers are suspended or supported by resilient frictional means so that there is no necessity for an underlying or support platform. The containers are supported in individually variable positions and are essentially independent of any other containers in the holder. The holder thus serves to maintain the containers in desired visible, neat and orderly condition until the last container has been removed. The foregoing advantages are accomplished by a relatively simple structure which is economical to produce and maintain.

Further, the illustrated holder 10 is readily formable from a collapsible construction or unit that is formed from the fiat blank 11. The collapsible unit can be readily, simply and quickly changed, by an essentially single operation without the necessity of tools or added materials, from a flat folded condition to an opened or an assembled condition providing the three-dimensional self-maintaining and supporting display holder 10.

Various modifications and changes, in addition to those suggested herein, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Various features of the present invention are set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A display holder in the form of an open box-structure that comprises a pair of spaced vertical generally resilient side walls, at least a portion of the upper edge of each side wall being inclined upwardly toward the rear of said box-structure, a pair of elongated flanges each connected along one longitudinal edge to the inclined upper edge portion of one of said side walls and extending generally inwardly therefrom, and means at the other longitudinal edge of each flange providing at least two separated support zones, said support zones on one flange being respectively opposite said support zones on the other flange, whereby a product container may be resiliently and removably supported between each opposite pair of support zones.

2. .A display holder in the form of an open box-structure that comprises a'pair of spaced vertical generally resilient side walls, at least a major portion of the upper edge of each side wall being inclined upwardly toward the rear of said box-structure, a pair of elongated flanges each connected along one longitudinal edge to the inclined upper edge portion of one of said side walls and extending generally inwardly therefrom, and means at the other longitudinal edge of each flange providing a plurality of separated inwardly open support zones, said support zones on one flange being respectively opposite said support zones on the other flange, whereby a number of product containers may be resiliently and removably supported between opposite pairs of support zones.

3. A display holder for releasably supporting generally fiat rectangular product containers in vertically and transversely extending, parallel, and selectively elevated positions for ready viewability and accessibility, said holder being in the form of an open box-structure of semiresilient material that comprises a pair of spaced-apart vertical side walls, at least a portion of the upper edge of each of said side walls being inclined upwardly rearwardly of the structure, and a pair of narrow elongated flanges, each of said flanges being connected along one longitudinal edge of said inclined upper edge portion of one of said side walls and extending inwardly therefrom, the other inward longitudinal edge of each of said flanges being formed to provide at least two separated notches that are each proportioned to receive a side edge of one of the flat containers, said notches on one flange being respectively opposite said notches on the other flange, each of said opposite pairs of notches being sufliciently spaced apart to frictionally, resiliently and releasably support one of the containers in said box-structure between said flanges.

4. A display holder for releasably supporting a plurality of generally flat rectangular product containers in vertically and transversely extending, parallel, and selectively elevated positions for ready viewability and accessibility, said holder being in the form of an open boxstructure of semi-resilient material that comprises a generally rectangular flat horizontal bottom wall, a pair of spaced-apart vertical side walls extending upwardly from either side edge of said bottom wall, at least a major portion of the upper edge of each of said side walls being inclined upwardly rearwardly of the structure, and a pair of narrow elongated flanges, each of said flanges being connected along one longitudinal edge to said inclined upper edge portion of one of said side walls and extending inwardly therefrom, the other inward longitudinal edge of each of said flanges being formed to provide a plurality of separated notches that are each proportioned to receive a side edge of one of the generally flat product containers, said notches on one flange being respectively opposite said notches on the other flange, each of said opposite pairs of notches being spaced apart a distance somewhat smaller than the width of the product containers, whereby a product container can be frictionally, resiliently and releasably suspended or supported between each opposite pair of notches.

5. A display holder formable from a blank of semirigid, resilient foldable material, said holder being in the form of an open box-structure adapted to releasably support generally flat product containers, said box-structure comprising a pair of spaced-apart vertical side wall members that are each forrnable into a vertical side wall and an inwardly directed flange, at least a portion of the upper edge of each of said side walls being inclined upwardly toward the rear of said box-structure, an elongated strip of each of said side wall members being disposed along the inclined upper edge portion of the associated side wall and'be'ing adapted to be folded inwardly to provide the associated flange, the inner edge of each of said flanges being formed to provide at least two separated support zones, said zones being arranged in opposite pairs with each pair being sufliciently spaced apart to frictionally, resiliently and releasably support one of the containers therebetween.

6. A display holder formable from a one-piece blank of semirigid, resilient, foldable material such as paperboard, said holder being in the form of an open generally rectangular box-structure adapted to releasably support generally flat rectangular product containers in vertically and transversely extending, parallel, and selectively ele vated positions for ready viewability and accessibility, said box-structure comprising a pair of spaced-apart vertical side wall members that are each formable into a vertical side wall and an inwardly directed flange, at least a major portion of the upper edge of each of said side walls being inclined upwardly toward the rear of said box-structure, an elongated strip of each of said side wall members being disposed along the inclined upper edge portion of the associated side wall and being adapted to be folded inwardly to provide the associated flange, the inner edge of each of said flanges being provided with at least two separated inwardly open support support receptacles, said receptacles being arranged in opposite pairs with each pair being sufliciently spaced apart to frictionally, resiliently and releasably support one of the containers therebetween.

7. A display holder formable from a one-piece blank of semirigid, resilient, foldable material such as paperboard, said holder being in the form of an open generally rectangular box-structure adapted to releasably support a plurality of generally flat rectangular product containers in vertically and transversely extending, parallel, and selectively elevated positions for ready viewability and accessibility, said box-structure comprising a generally rectangular fiat horizontal bottom wall, and a pair of vertical side wall members integrally connected to and extending upwardly from the side edges of said bottom wall, each of said side wall members being formable into a vertical side wall and an inwardly extending flange, at least a major portion of the upper edge of each of said side walls being inclined upwardly toward the rear of said boxstructure, an elongated strip of each of said side wall members being disposed along the inclined upper edge portion of the associated side wall and being adapted to be folded inwardly to provide the associated flange, the inner edge of each of said flanges being provided with a plurality of separated notches, said notches being arranged in opposite pairs with each pair being spaced apart a distance somewhat smaller than the width of the product containers, whereby a product container can be frictionally resiliently and releasably suspended or supported between each opposite pair of notches.

8. A fiat blank of semirigid, resilient, foldable material, said blank being formable into an open boxstructure providing a display holder for releasably supporting generally fiat product containers, said blank comprising a pair of side-wall-member-forming panels, at least a portion of the edge of each of said panels which edge will be uppermost in the assembled holder being inclined so that it will extend upwardly rearwardly in the assembled holder, said blank being provided with a line of weakness generally aligned with and spaced inwardly from said inclined edge portion of each of said panels to define a strip along each of said edge portions, the inclined edge portion of each of said panels being formed to provide at least two separated support zones that are each adapted to receive a side edge of one of the product containers when the holder is assembled, whereby each of said strips is folded inwardly toward the other when the blank is assembled to thereby accommodate product containers in frictional, resilient and releasable engagement between pairs of opposed support zones.

9. A fiat one-piece blank of semi-rigid, resilient, foldable material, said blank being formable into an open box-structure providing a display holder for releasably supporting generally fiat rectangular product containers, said blank comprising a pair of side-wall-member-forming panels, at least a major portion of the edge of each of said side-wall-member-forming panels which edge will be uppermost in the assembled holder being inclined so that it will extend upwardly rearwardly in the assembled holder, said blank being provided with a line of weakness generally parallel to and spaced inwardly from the inclined edge portion of each of said side-wall-memberforming panels to define a strip along said edge portion of each of said panels, the inclined edge portion of each of said side-wall-member-forming panels being provided with at least two separated support receptacles that are each adapted to receive a side edge of one of the product containers when the holder is assembled, whereby each of said strips is folded inwardly toward the other strip when the blank is assembled into the holder to accommodate product containers in frictional, resilient and releasable engagement between pairs of opposed receptacles.

10, A fiat one-piece blank of seinirigid, resilient, foldable material, said blank being formable into a display holder for releasably supporting a plurality of generally flat rectangular product containers in vertically and transversely extending, parallel, and selectively elevated positions for ready viewability and accessibility, said blank comprising a pair of side-wall-member forming panels, at least a major portion of the edge of each of said sidewall-member-forming panels which edge will be uppermost in the assembled holder being inclined so that it will extend upwardly rearwardly in the assembled holder, said blank being provided with a line of weakness generally parallel to and spaced inwardly from the inclined edge portion of each of said side-wall-member-forming panels to define a strip along said edge portion of each of said panels, the inclined edge portion of each of said side-wall-member-forming panels being formed with a plurality of separated notches each adapted to receive a side edge of one of the product containers when the holder is assembled, whereby each of said strips is folded inwardly toward the other strip when the blank is assembled into the holder to accommodate product containers in frictional, resilient and releasable engagement between opposite pairs of said notches.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,259,041 10/41 Larkin 20644 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. 

10. A FLAT ONE-PIECE BLANK OF SEMIRIGID, RESILIENT, FOLDABLE MATERIAL, SAID BLANK BEING FORMABLE INTO A DISPLAY HOLDER FOR RELEASABLY SUPPORTING A PLURALITY OF GENERALLY FLAT RECTANGULAR PRODUCT CONTAINERS IN VERTICALLY AND TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING, PARALLEL, AND SELECTIVELY ELEVATED POSITIONS FOR READY VIEWABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY, SAID BLANK COMPRISING A PAIR OF SIDE-WALL-MEMBER FORMING PANELS, AT LEAST A MAJOR PORTION OF THE EDGE OF EACH OF SAID SIDEWALL-MEMBER FORMING PANELS WHICH EDGE WILL BE UPPERMOST IN THE ASSEMBLED HOLDER BEING INCLINED SO THAT IT WILL EXTEND UPWARDLY REARWARDLY IN THE ASSEMBLED HOLDER, SAID BLANK BEING PROVIDED WITH A LINE OF WEAKNESS GENERALLY PARALLEL TO AND SPACED INWARDLY FORM THE INCLINED EDGE PORTION OF EACH OF SAID SIDE-WALL-MEMBER FORMING PANELS TO DEFINE A STRIP ALONG SAID EDGE PORTION OF EACH OF SAID PANELS, THE INCLINED EDGE PORTION OF EACH OF SAID SIDE-WALL-MEMBER-FORMING PANELS BEING FORMED WITH A PLURALITY OF SEPARATED NOTCHES EACH ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A SIDE EDGE OF ONE OF THE PRODUCT CONTAINERS WHEN THE HOLDER IS ASSEMBLED, WHEREBY EACH OF SAID STRIPS IS FOLDED INWARDLY TOWARD THE OTHER STRIP WHEN THE BLANK IS ASSEMBLED INTO THE HOLDER TO ACCOMMODATE PRODUCE CONTAINERS IN FRICTIONAL, RESILIENT AND RELEASABLE ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN OPPOSITE PAIRS OF SAID NOTCHES. 